VISION ✔️ || The Keepers of Astraela #1

42.2 || Of Sleepy Kisses and Tornadic Mausoleums

EVA

THE MOMENT EVA AND Emrys approached the treeline surrounding their safe haven, the forest beyond shimmered with a magical barrier similar to the one Amaya had thrown around them a week before. One that, as soon as they crossed, plunged them back into the lifeless world they had come to know. Peering behind them, the barrier vanished, replaced by an endless, blackened forest.

Eva gripped the Runestone tighter. Its pull guided her gently in one direction, where she knew they would find her vision's destination, but she almost couldn't bring herself to follow it.

Suddenly, Emrys' hand wrapped around hers, and she turned to find a wavering smile on his lips. He was trying to put on a brave face for her, but she knew the truth.

He hadn't been happy to find out she still had the Runestone, despite it reappearing beyond her control, and he was even less thrilled about using it to guide their way. Still, she knew some part of him must have burned with the same curiosity as herself, and the drive to save the woman he loved, or else he wouldn't have agreed to such a risky plan.

As he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, his eyes softened, though Eva wasn't sure if it was from compassion or exhaustion. No matter how much he'd rested in their temporary home, he looked rough. The graying skin that spread up his neck didn't help matters. They were running out of time.

He was running out of time.

"I've got you," he said. "If you go haywire, I'll take the stone."

Eva nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to give him the reassurance of a smile. They both knew that, despite his time to heal, he wasn't strong enough to stop a potential possession. Even without Thana's help, she could have taken him down by hardly lifting a finger.

She only hoped that Thana would know some way to reverse her Touch's affliction—and that they could find her before it was too late.

Eva focused on the Runestone in her hand, allowing its pulse to guide her. "Northeast."

She wasn't sure how she knew the exact direction with no stars or sun to orient them, but neither of them questioned it. They navigated the forest with bated breath, waiting for Corrupted attacks that never came. It was as if the forest had been silenced, yet the feeling of being watched followed their every footstep. A shiver raced down Eva's spine at the thought of the Corrupted remaining just out of sight, curious enough themselves to watch their journey from afar.

But something deep inside Eva's chest swelled with confidence, as if she knew, somehow, that she would be fine. That nothing would touch them because they were on the right path.

That maybe Thana was not only guiding their way, but protecting them.

Eventually, the forest gave way to overgrown fields, and Eva spotted the battered remains of a village not far ahead. Her heart thrummed louder against her chest at the eerie sight—one she had seen twice before with Faeran's assistance.

"Shrew Hollow." Emrys' voice was so soft that Eva almost didn't hear it over the Runestone's droning hum.

Eva quirked a brow, but she couldn't help but feel a certain familiarity about the place. There wasn't any reason for her to know its name; she didn't believe that Thana and Emrys had ever been there, at least in the time she had dreamed about them.

"You know this place?" asked Eva, finally pulling her eyes from the village to look at him.

"I've... heard of it," he said, though the recognition on his face told her otherwise. "This place used to be alive with necromancers. Terrible things happened here a few centuries ago, but the rumors got so out of control that no one knows the truth."